nothing?..."

"Ernst has always been rather strange, you know; he really fights shy of
people. He collects things, all sorts of things: china, books, old
maps...."

"And Paul?"

"No, Paul does nothing."

"But how strange!"

"What?"

"That they have none of them done anything to distinguish themselves:
none of Papa's sons...."

"But, Connie, they're all quite nice!" cried Dorine, indignantly. "Well,
yes, Ernst is rather queer; and of course it's not right that Paul
should do nothing...."

"I oughtn't to have said it, Dorine.... But Papa would have liked to see
his children distinguished...."

Dorine felt annoyed, and at the same time, confused: distinguished,
distinguished.... And her thoughts muttered within her mind, while
Constance stood looking at the portrait: distinguished,
distinguished.... Constance did well to talk of being distinguished!...
True, she had made a great marriage: De Staffelaer, the minister at
Rome, an old diplomatist, a friend of Papa's.... True, she had been
distinguished, no doubt; and it had turned out nicely, her distinguished
marriage. Distinguished indeed!... Could Constance really be vain still
... perhaps because she was now Baroness van der Welcke? A fine thing,
that scandal with Van der Welcke!... Distinguished, distinguished ...
well, no, they were none of them distinguished. But then everybody
couldn't be Viceroy of the East Indies.... Constance had always had that
sort of vanity; but Constance talking or thinking unkindly of her
brothers, whom she hadn't seen for years, that Dorine could _not_ stand,
no, _that_ she couldn't: they were the brothers, they were the family,
they were the Van Lowes; and she couldn't stand it.... She had always
stood up for Constance, for Constance was a sister, was herself a Van
Lowe; but Constance must not start giving herself airs and looking down
upon them with her "distinguished," her "distinguished." ... Very well,
the brothers were not distinguished, but there was nothing else to be
said against them, never had been; and against Constance there was!...
And Dorine's voice suddenly sounded very cold, as she asked:

"Shall we go back to the drawing-room?"

Constance, however, absorbed in thought, did not notice the cold voice
and took Dorine's arm. But, when she again passed Adolphine's table, she
heard her call quickly, in a startled tone:

"No trumps!"

"Ss! Ss! Ss!" Uncle Ruyvenaer, who was losing, hissed between his teeth.
"What